WCA-6414:Charles II Hammered Silver
Restoration Halfcrown.Third issue,
initial mark crown.Spink 3321.This is immediately prior to the introduction
of the new milled coinage of 1662.The
third issue is notoriously poor, presumably because the writing was on the wall
for hammered coinage therefore little effort went into both the dies and the
end product.This coin is one of the
best grade examples I have ever seen.£795

Sixpences

WCA-6487:Charles II Hammered Silver
Restoration Sixpence.Third issue,
initial mark crown.Spink 3323.This is immediately prior to the introduction
of the new milled coinage of 1662.The
third issue is notoriously poor, presumably because the writing was on the wall
for hammered coinage therefore little effort went into both the dies and the
end product.This coin is exceptional
for the issue. £595

Milled

Patterns

WCA-5779:1660’s Charles II Copper
Pattern Halfpenny.High grade (about
EF) example of the precursor to the recognised long-lived milled halfpenny
which started just a few years after this pattern in 1672 and ended with the
decimal issue of 1984 (pre decimal copper ended 1860, bronze 1970).A rare coin, rarer still in this grade.£575

Crowns

WCA-5833:1662 Charles II Full
Silver Crown.DECVS ET TUTEMAN edge,
a rose under the bust.This was the very
first milled silver crown of the Restoration of the monarchy.£195

WCA-5755:1673 Charles II Full
Silver Crown.VICESIMO QVINTO edge
but with the I of VICESIMO being very clearly overstruck on an “O”.The 3 of the date has an odd look to it,
specifically on the right side immediately opposite the pellet stop.An unusual coin.£195

WCA-6018:1672 Charles II Silver
Shilling.Second draped bust.About VF overall.Shillings were not a huge issue under Charles
II and like most silver denominations, with the possible exception of crowns,
the bulk was very effectively gathered for the melting pot upon the death of
Charles II, and of course subsequent monarchs.Spink 3375.Rare in this
grade.£495

WCA-5413:1684 Charles II Silver
Shilling.Final issue (4th)
and final year before James II.A nice
grade coin (not quite VF but much better than F) that’s been gilded in
antiquity and presumably been mounted – there are flat areas on the milled edge
indicating a mount.An attractive and
hard-to-source coin in anything better than F.£375

Maundy

WCA-5135:1679 Charles II Silver
Threepence – Unrecorded Variety.The
first “A” in “GRATIA” is over an “O” and the second “A” is over another
“A”.The second overstrike is not a
double strike, rather an adjustment in spacing for GRATIA.The two “A”s in this second overstrike are a
good distance apart.Unrecorded in Spink
and ESC.£69

WCA-5861:Charles II Silver
Threepence (1670-84) – “Brockage”The reverse being a mirror image of the obverse!When a coin is stuck in the die and another
planchet (blank) is introduced, that first coin makes an incused (the opposite
of raised up) impression on the second coin.The stuck coin acts like die and the second coin ends up with the same
impression raised and incused.Termed a brockage.Die axis
en-medaille.These mint errors are rare,
especially such an early one, as they usually never made it out of the mint,
being relatively easy to spot.This coin
not only left the mint having passed quality control but then entered general
circulation, but only for a short while (very little circulation wear) as
someone recognised the unusual nature of the coin and used it as a pendant or
maybe as a lucky charm?A unique coin
and yet again, a tangible piece of British history!£135

WCA-5553:Charles II Silver
“Royalist” Supporters’ Badge.Probably struck before Charles returned from exile.This one nice in that it depicts a tree with
three crowns on the branches in incuse (hand engraved?) design.Listed in Medallic Illustration (M.I. 453/38)
as Rare.Looks to have been worn and
lovingly fondled by a staunch Royalist!£485

WCA-5754:Charles II Bi-Metallic
Ticket-Token for the Touching Ceremony.A “Touching Ceremonies” was where the monarch of the day, in this case
Charles II, personally gave out gold touch pieces to sufferers of Scrofula
(tubercular infection, to which it is estimated that 1% of the London
population suffered) in order to cure them.Charles II personally attended these ceremonies and physically handed
the touch piece to each and every sufferer.Sufferers were invited and issued with an official Ticket-Pass to admit
them to the ceremony.You gave your
Ticket-Pass in at the door, entered the ceremony, got touched by the king and
hopefully left a cured individual.These
Ticket-Token were collected and re-issued for the next Touching Ceremony.105,000 people were Touched by Charles II
with around 360 sufferers being admitted to each ceremony.However, the officials used three designs of
Ticket-Tokens: brass, copper or a combination of both.To prevent fraud, officials alternated the
type of Ticket-Token used.The
bi-metallic copper & brass Ticket-Tokens are much rarer than the other two
types.It is interesting to note the
wear on this Ticket-Token.Although
resembling a copper halfpenny, this Ticket-Token could not have entered
circulation as currency for two reasons.Firstly, it’s not wholly copper.What was on the coin in those days mattered very little, that it was
copper was essential.Secondly, it is
inconceivable that a recipient sufferer would have forfeited his or her chance
of being cured by the king for a halfpence.The officials would not have let this Ticket-Token out into circulation
either so we can deduce that the wear on the Ticket-Token is down to it having
been issued many times so it much be a piece from early on in the reign of
Charles II.This Ticket-Token or Pass
comes with a 1937
collector’s ticket stating the pass is ex Glendinning’s Auction and that
the price paid way back in 1937 was a rather impressive 6 shillings.For further reading, see Peck or The Sovereign
Remedy by Woolf.£595